October 2015
6th Annual Hispanic Leadership Awards
Left to Right: Jimmy Van Bramer, New York City Council Majority Leader; Mark Salinas, Founder 7Train Murals
May 2016
Queens Community Board Members
Orientation
Left to Right: Melinda Katz, Queens Borough President; Mark Salinas, Founder 7Train Murals
August 2015
NYCDOT's Pedestrian Patterns Mural Unveiling
Left to Right: Mark Salinas, Founder 7Train Murals; Wendy Feuer, Assistant Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation; Michael Gianaris, New York State Senator; Matthew Wallace, Chief of Staff to New York City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer
August 2015
Historic House Trust's Day Dress Mural Unveiling
Left to Right: Frank Vagnon, Executive Director of the Historic House Trust of New York City; Caroline Drabik, Director of Curatorial Affairs of the Historic House Trust of New York City; Mark Salinas, Founder 7Train Murals
September 2016
Viva La Comida Festival
Left: Senator Jose Peralta with 7Train Murals volunteers
Right: Assemblyman Francisco Moya with 7Train Murals volunteers
August 2015
New York City Council Offices Art Open House
Top: Jimmy Van Bramer, New York City Council Majority Leader; Melissa Mark-Viverito, Speaker of the New York City Council; Mark Salinas, Founder 7Train Murals
Bottom: Jimmy Van Bramer, New York City Council Majority Leader; Mark Salinas, Founder 7Train Murals; Tom Finkelpearl, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
QUESTIONS FOR THE 7TRAINMURALS CONDUCTOR:
1.) HOW DID 7TRAIN MURALS GET STARTED?
IN 2012, QUEENS ARTIST MARK SALINAS PARTICIPATED IN AN ANNUAL COMMUNITY CLEAN-UP DAY IN SUNNYSIDE. HE JOINED RESIDENTS IN SWEEPING LITTER OFF THE CURBS, PULLING WEEDS, AND PAINTING OVER GRAFFITI. HE MET MANY NEW NEIGHBORS AS WELL AS THE SUNNYSIDE/WOODSIDE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB. IT WAS THEN HE BEGAN TO THINK OF LONG-TERM BEAUTIFICATION SOLUTIONS WHICH WOULD INCLUDE THIS TYPE OF NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORKING.
2.) IS THIS A FREE SERVICE? CAN I GET A MURAL ON MY BUILDING?
WHILE OUR MURALS ARE CONSIDERED PUBLIC WORKS OF ARTS, THIS IS NOT A FREE SERVICE. WE RESEARCH, WRITE, AND APPLY FOR ART & COMMUNITY GRANTS TO FUND THE DESIGN, PRODUCTION, AND ADMINISTRATION OF EACH MURAL EVENT. WE CHOOSE OUR SELECTED SITES SEVERAL MONTHS IN ADVANCE DUE TO GRANT APPLICATION PROCESSES. HOWEVER, YOU MAY CONTACT US ABOUT ANY VACANT OR VANDALIZED BUILDING AND WE WILL REVIEW IT TO SEE IF FITS OUR CRITERIA PERHAPS ON A FUTURE PROJECT OR THROUGH YOUR COMMISSION.
3.) HOW DO YOU CHOOSE YOUR LOCATIONS?
WE AIM TO BEAUTIFY NEIGHBORHOODS IN AND AROUND THE 7TRAIN SUBWAY SYSTEM IN MANHATTAN AND QUEENS (34TH STREET HUDSON YARDS TO FLUSHING MAIN STREET). THERE ARE SEVERAL FACTORS INVOLVED IN REPLACING A VACANT OR VANDALIZED SITE WITH A MURAL. SOME FACTORS INCLUDE SAFE VOLUNTEER ACCESS, SITE-SPECIFIC DESIGN, MURAL VISIBILITY, NEIGHBORING ORGANIZATIONS AND LANDLORDS WILLING TO PARTICIPATE, AND A STRONG SENSE OF SHARED COMMUNITY SPACE.
4.) WHO IS DESIGNING? WHO IS PAINTING?
WE BELIEVE COMMUNITY DESIGN IS BASED ON DIALOGUE. 7TRAIN MURALS PRIDES ITSELF IN ALWAYS TAKING THE INITIATIVE IN PROPOSING SITE-SPECIFIC MURAL DESIGNS TO AREAS IN NEED. TYPICALLY OUR TRAINED CREW WILL TRANSFER OUR OUTLINED DESIGN ONTO THE WALL, WHERE LOCAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS- SPECIFIC TO THE MURAL'S LOCATION- ARE INVITED TO JOIN, HELPING PAINT IN THE DESIGN.
5.) WHY DO A MURAL? IT'LL JUST GET TAGGED ANYWAYS.
WE ARE CREATIVE, OPTIMISTS WHO BELIEVE OUR COMMUNITIES DO NOT BENEFIT FROM NEGLECT. WE WILL ALWAYS SEE THE PAINT BUCKET 'HALF-FULL' INSTEAD OF 'HALF-EMPTY' AND ENCOURAGE ALL QUEENS RESIDENTS TO PRO-ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN OUR NEXT EVENT. INSTEAD, WE ASK, WHY TAG? IT'LL JUST GET RE-PAINTED ANYWAYS AS WE MAINTAIN OUR WORKS YEAR-ROUND..
6.) HOW IS 7TRAIN MURALS DIFFERENT FROM ALL THE OTHER MURALS I SEE?
WE PRIDE OUR ORGANIZATION ON ITS INDIVIDUALITY AND CREATIVITY. HERE'S WHY...
- OUR DESIGNS ARE SITE-SPECIFIC. THE DESIGN ACKNOWLEDGES THE ENVIRONMENT, THE ARCHITECTURE, AND THE LOCAL CULTURE. IT'S NOT SIMPLY A TORN OUT PAGE FROM A SKETCH BOOK.
- WE ARE SELECTIVE IN WHERE WE PLACE OUR MURALS. WE WANT TO BEAUTIFY NEIGHBORHOODS ALONG THE 7TRAIN. NOT JUST ANY OLD WALL.
- WE DO NOT USE SPRAY AEROSOLS. NOT GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT OR OUR LUNGS.
- WE WORK WITH BIDS, COUNCILMEN, LANDLORDS, AND TENANTS TO CREATE LEGAL WORKS OF ART
- OUR MISSION IS FOCUSED ON 'WE' NOT 'ME'. ALL OUR MURALS ARE PAINTED 100% BY NEIGHBORHOOD VOLUNTEERS WHICH BUILDS A SENSE OF COMMUNITY PRIDE AND NETWORKING.
- WE MAINTAIN ALL OUR MURALS AND KEEP THEM TAG-FREE AND LOOKING GOOD YEAR-ROUND.
- FINALLY, OUR MURALS ARE FUNDED BY ARTS & COMMUNITY GRANTS WHICH WE WRITE AND LOCAL SPONSORSHIP.
7.) WHO GETS CHOSEN TO PARTICIPATE- HOW CAN I VOLUNTEER?
WE ARE VERY ACTIVE IN RECRUITING VOLUNTEERS SPECIFIC TO THE NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE EACH MURAL IS CREATED. THIS BUILDS A SENSE OF COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP AND PRIDE. WE WILL ACCEPT ALL INDIVIDUALS WHO JOIN US, NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE. YOU CAN CONTACT US ON THE 'STAY INFORMED' PAGE.
8.) DO YOU ACCEPT DONATIONS?
IF YOU ARE A BUSINESS WHO WOULD LIKE TO DONATE YOUR PRODUCT, SERVICE, OR SPONSORSHIP TO A FUTURE MURAL, PLEASE CONTACT US! AS OF OCTOBER 2014, WE ARE NOW FISCALLY SPONSORED THROUGH FRACTURED ATLAS (501-C), WHICH MEANS WE CAN FURNISH ANY DONATION WITH A TAX-DONATION RECEIPT.
9.) IS 7TRAIN MURALS A NON-PROFIT (501-C)?
WE ARE A LOCAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION, THE 100% VOLUNTEER YEAR-ROUND PROJECT OF FOUNDER MARK SALINAS, VISUAL ARTIST, QUEENS RESIDENT, AND 7TRAIN SUBWAY RIDER. OUR FISCAL SPONSOR, FRACTURED ATLAS, IS A NON-PROFIT 501-C AND PROVIDES A RANGE OF SERVICES FOR US AND FOR OUR DONORS. OUR 'BOARD OF DIRECTORS' IS CULLED FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF EACH MURAL'S LOCATION, PER PROJECT.
10.) SO WHAT'S NEXT?
BE THE FIRST TO KNOW BY JOINING OUR MAILING LIST ON THE 'STAY INFORMED' PAGE.
'LIKE' 7TRAIN MURALS ON FACEBOOK AND FOLLOW @7TRAIN MURALS ON TWITTER, 7TRAINMURALS ON INSTAGRAM.